Brett Callwood
The Worship of Drum & Bass: UK drum & bass collective Worship, consisting of Sub Focus, Dimension, Culture Shock and 1991, had been friends for a long time before they decided to collaborate a few years ago.
“Me and Dimension made our first collab ‘Desire’ together back in 2018 which went platinum in the UK,” Sub Focus says. “We had all linked up with the same management team by then and decided it would be fun to join up to do some shows together. We did our first US tour together in 2020 and the chemistry hat we had together was undeniable so we decided to make it a regular thing. Our mission is to take (our genre) drum & bass to the States and show people the best that it has to offer. We’ve also been collaborating on new music with a bunch of US DJs like John Summit and NGHTMRE amongst others.”
Sub Focus describes the Worship sound today as, “Drum & bass with strong influences from across the electronic music landscape. I’m inspired by ’70s synth music like Vangelis, through to ’90s trance, jungle and modern house and techno.”
“I think growing up in London in the ’90s had a huge impact on my sound,” adds Culture Shock. “I first heard D&B and jungle on pirate radio stations that were prevalent in London alongside mainstream dance music. My family were very into classical music so all of that feeds into the mix. That juxtaposition of classical and contemporary electronic music is where I’m most interested.
Worship performs at the Hollywood Palladium on March 30, and it promises to be a special show.
“It’s an iconic venue and when we did our first tour together here in 2020 we set selling out the Palladium as one of our long term goals,” Sub Focus says. “It feels great to have got here and we can’t wait to show people what we have in store.”
“I’ll definitely be bringing my A game for this one,” adds 1991. “Like Nick says, this is a venue we set our sights on a while ago so this set is going to be extra special — including a ton of new music.”
Sub Focus believes that electronic music is in “rude health” at present.
“In particular, drum & bass is having a moment in the UK at the moment,” he says. “As an example, drum & bass producers Chase & Status just won producer of the year at the Brit awards (our equivalent of the Grammys). We feel like it’s gaining real momentum Stateside.”
“Electronic music definitely feels widely accepted now more than ever — it seems like all sub genres are thriving and co-existing in a way that feels very harmonious,” adds 1991. “Lately there’s been a huge amount of underground dance music crossover into the mainstream which is a testament to how popular it is right now.”
Looking ahead, the men of Worship have plenty planned for 2024.
“I’m DJing around the world and performing my two visual shows: Circular Sound and Evolve alongside working on a batch of new music,” says Sub Focus.
“I’ve just dropped the second in a new series of releases,” adds Culture Shock. “I’m aiming to release regularly this year building up to a larger project alongside a busy touring schedule. I go on from L.A. to New Zealand for a two week run after the Palladium show.”
“I’ll be touring throughout the rest of the year alongside a pretty stacked release schedule, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a steady stream of music ready to put out to the world so I’m super excited for people to hear what I’ve been working on,” says 1991 in conclusion.
The Worship of Drum & Bass: Worship performs at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday, March 30.
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